Bloodtellers: Trial
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Infinite has been judged without a trial. In three days, he's going to be moved to the reclaimed Death Egg for severe correction. However, a friend from Silver's time could provide the hint on whether this villain could really be redeemed for his crimes… [post Forces][prequel/set up to Bloodtellers: Genesis][SilverxOC][InfinitexOC][complete][R&R]
1. Day 0: Shift

Silver was taking too long, and Saga was getting impatient. At least, that was the story she was going with when she found that she had shifted again.

Shifting was a special power the Mobian feline had- one that she hated with every fiber in her body. Like hiccups, Saga would 'shift' into a different point in time or even a different reality altogether. She never had control of where she would be, and it was the part of her shifting that scared her the most. Sometimes, people she didn't know would recognize her, other times it would be the other way around and she would recognize someone else.

This shift placed her in the past. How far in the past was something Saga had to figure out for herself. The environment around wasn't going to be much of a help- practically a barren wasteland in the middle of nowhere. Cursing under her breath, Saga held herself as she started to move forward for some kind of civilization. Never in control of her shifting, the cat blissfully hoped that she would shift back to her proper time before she had to engage with whatever was out there. After an hour of wandering, it quickly became apparent that this little luxury was not going to grace her today.

When Saga had found a place to catch her breath, the jackal shifted a little from his state and weakly looked over at her. There was a small spark of recognition in his eyes- but Saga couldn't tell if it was a spark of hope or betrayal.

"You..." the jackal muttered before letting out a small groan of pain. "Why are you here…? Of all… of all the people..."

Saga glared at him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "We've never met."

Wearily, Infinite gave a small chuckle. He didn't answer, however, as he slipped out of consciousness soon after, leaving Saga to glare at him with even more confusion than before.

Just who _was_ this guy anyway?

. . .

The search for Infinite was taking too long, and Silver was getting impatient. He had to admit that the repairs after Eggman's defeat was going smoothly, he just couldn't find himself able to rest until the jackal was found. No matter the case, Resistance base was the hub of repairing the world: Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles were tasked with finding Infinite to secure his fate while everyone else helped with cleanup, ration control, general pep talks, and whatever else people needed to help recover. Silver, much to his chagrin, was assigned with the repair crew.

That didn't stop him from finding excuses to hang out base, however. The tiniest speck wasn't safe from Silver as he found more and more ridiculous reasons to stick around. He knew Knuckles didn't care, he wondered if Sonic even noticed, and he was pretty confident that Shadow was starting to catch on. It was during one of these light excuses that a beeper on Silver started to go off. The hedgehog jumped a good foot in the air in surprise, and quickly looked down at his gold cuffs.

In his time, Silver had a friend named Saga, a blue cat that had the ability to shift through moments in time for a certain period. She didn't have much control over this, and she could appear and disappear at a moment's notice. So, a professor from their time made Silver a special attachment to his golden cuffs- whenever Saga had appeared in the same timeline as Silver, then a special beeper would go off. Right now, all it was doing was giving away that his shirking responsibility.

"What was that?" Knuckles eventually questioned, looking around the room for the source of the noise.

At the moment, Silver wasn't paying attention, more distressed that Saga's signal was being picked up when she shouldn't have been in this time period.

Unless…

"Silver," the deadpan voice of Shadow broke the white hedgehog's concentration, "Do you know where that noise is coming from?"

"It's… uh, me." Silver sheepishly admitted, not that everyone didn't know that already. He just now realized that everyone was looking at him, making Silver look away for a moment in embarrassment.

"Is everything alright?" Knuckles then asked.

"I..." Silver started to say, still finding himself distracted by the tracker. "I, um, need to… go somewhere. To find someone. _Now_. Do you mind if I…?"

"Depends." Shadow glared as he folded his arms. "Are you going to return to your actual post after?"

The black hedgehog's only answer was a sheepish laughter before the silver hedgehog departed without another word.

Oh Shadow _definitely_ knew that Silver was shirking from his duties. Big time.

Scrubbing Shadow from his mind and keeping focus to the holographic display for Saga's location, Silver used his powers to speed as fast as he could to her. The tracker brought him out to a desert area, and just as Silver was starting to fear for the worst, he soon spotted Saga's light blue fur against the orange landscape. She wasn't alone either; when Silver realized who was with her, he immediately shouted,

"Saga, get away from him! He's dangerous!"

Silver saw the cat jump in surprise at his sudden presence, and looked at him while she still worked to sling Infinite's arm around her neck. The near white hedgehog almost made himself skid to a stop when he was closer to Saga, holding out his hands to her like she held a dangerous weapon in her hands. In some way, she actually did.

"Saga..." Silver tried again, "Please just leave him alone."

"Okay, _first off_ ," the unnerved cat informed Silver, "I freaking hate shifting- you know why? This idiot thinks he knows me so I'm going to pretend that helping him is an act of gratis, and now you're freaking telling me that he's a safety hazard?! Are you going to explain to me some time what happened in this timeline?!"

"Yes. Everything." sighed Silver. "And I can understand you wanting to help him. I do. But, if he wakes up and becomes a severe danger again, I don't want you in harm's way when that happens."

Saga looked at her friend for a good while before giving an annoyed huff. "Fine," she eventually agreed, "Take him."

"Thank you." Silver then graciously said as he started to use his telekinesis to take Infinite off of Saga's shoulders. Binding the unconscious jackal with his powers, Silver then gestured for Saga to follow him- with little else to do, she did so and they left with Infinite floating behind them. On their way back to base, Silver explained as much as he could to Saga about this timeline. Saga absorbed what she could with a nod, and ignored the rest because she found it didn't matter; when Silver told a story, he sometimes brought in too much detail than giving an actual plot.

When they returned to base, Infinite was taken by Shadow to some undisclosed location while Silver gave the cat a tour. It wasn't much, and at the end, he promised to make her a cup of coffee- her favorite drink.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Amy (who had finished her shift outside for the day) gushed after Saga gave her introductions. "So tell me, are you and Silver dating?"

"What? No!" the cat immediately denied, her face even scrunching up in disgust.

"Ditto." Silver cut in as he returned with Saga's coffee. This caused Amy to let out a knowing little giggle in observation. Saga didn't care as she turned her attention to her friend.

"Saga want her coffee now." the cat told Silver, holding her fingers out in an enviously grabby fashion toward the mug in his hand. Silver complied, handing her the mug without further instruction. Without thinking of a single consequence on how hot the beverage was, Saga took a long sip from the mug.

"Look at her go." Sonic marveled with a sense of humor. "Can you even taste it drinking that fast?"

"Yeah." Saga rasped, looking at Sonic for a moment. "There was creamer added. French vanilla. It's about to expire- you should go to the store and get more."

For a moment, all the blue hedgehog could do was stare before giving an approving nod. "Duly noted."

After Saga had downed the entire cup, she looked at the bottom thoughtfully before asking, "Where did you guys take Infinite?"

"To a temporary detention cell before we can get him to the Death Egg for correction." Knuckles informed her.

"The Death Egg?" the cat repeated with a raise of her eyebrow.

"It's where we plan on holding war criminals," Silver exclaimed- feeling pretty confident he had told her this earlier, "Mostly Infinite."

"Ah." Saga nodded. She absently traced the rim of the cup in an even deeper thought. It took some time, but she soon asked Knuckles, "Do you guys allow visitors in your POW camp, then?"


	2. Day 0: Liars

The second cup of coffee was just a natural addition to the first; but the third cup was Silver's silent plea to stop Saga from going in the cell alone. Unfortunately for him, once Saga set her mind on something, she was going to see it through until she died.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Silver asked his friend, not holding back any worry in doing so.

"I need to know what he does." Saga confirmed. "It's not often when someone knows me from a previous shift. Just let me in Silver."

"I'll be watching for out here." the hedgehog then told her, more to himself than to her in particular. "If anything looks wrong, or if you just toss me a hand signal or something, I'll come right in."

For a moment, the cat opened her mouth to give a reply, but found she truly didn't have one. Knowing this, Silver let out a sullen sigh as he opened up the cell door and let her in. The inside of the room didn't have much too it- not much more than a solid floor and ceiling, with pretty study walls holding everything up. In the far back of the room, Saga noticed a figure slumped at the wall. Chained to the wall, it almost looked like it was sleeping. Or dead.

"Hello Infinite." Saga dimly greeted the jackal, taking a seat rather close to his unmoving form. He didn't seem to react to her right away. Taking note of this, Saga set her cup down while taking side glances at him for some sign of life. Infinite did give the tiniest notion of lifting his head when he heard the cup rest against the floor.

"You've always drank your coffee black..." he croaked to her in a voice dark and vaguely amused.

"Do I?" Saga mused. "Never noticed."

This sparked a reaction in the jackal; a definite sign that he might be more open to her. Or maybe he thought he recognized something. Infinite made a small movement to get a better look at her, and when he did, he let out a bitter chuckle.

Too young. This Saga was much younger than his. Her cheery disposition still seemed to be in check, so this must have been his Saga, just younger. What a wonderful timeline this truly ended up being- and it wasn't even finished yet!

"Silver says you're dangerous." the cat informed the restrained jackal, calmly taking a sip of her coffee shortly after. "Says that you teamed with a lunatic and took over the world for six months. Not bad for a first-timer, kinda makes Egghead look bad though..." Saga took another sip of coffee before asking, "How do you know me?"

At first, she was answered with silence. But as she was about to call him out for it, Infinite emitted a low chuckle. "You said you wouldn't remember..."

For a moment, Saga's eyes glinted in a mixture of fear and surprise at knowing that some version of her had, in fact, known this supposed criminal. She took another sip from her cup before asking, "What did she… _I_ say about myself?"

Infinite looked up at her with a crooked half smile lined with a bemused malice. "You hail from the same plane of existence as that silver bug zapper." he informed her, simply enough. "You have the power to 'shift' through different existences and timelines, mostly through an unconscious effort. But you were older. Better in bed..."

Hearing this, Saga had gotten up so quickly that she had let her cup fall to the floor. "You're fucking with me!" she screeched. Her body was nearly shaking in rage, ready to tear the jackal apart limb from limb. Infinite only let out another unsettling chuckle in enjoying her reaction.

"Not yet my precious puss… Not quite yet..."

"Don't call me that either!" Saga demanded.

The jackal replied with a low chuckle just as the prison door opened up.

"Is everything alright?" the worried voice of Silver echoed in the tiny room.

"It's fine." Saga snapped, still fired up from her argument with Infinite. But Silver wasn't buying it.

"Saga, if he's giving you are hard time, then it's time to-"

"I said it's _fine_ Silver!" the cat growled, spinning around to give the hedgehog a heated glare.

From behind her, Infinite started to emit a slow, amused chuckle.

"What are you laughing about now?" Silver questioned. He had always found Infinite's laughter a bit unnerving, but something about this one just rubbed the hedgehog the wrong way. And with good reason.

"I just realized," Infinite snickered, "I got _your_ sloppy seconds..."

Saga whipped her body back around to tell him off, but she saw something that caught her off guard. She faltered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"What _really_ brought you here, my puss?" Infinite asked Saga, giving a rather distrustful sneer. "You really don't think that it was him, do you?"

The question seemed to take the cat aback. She refused to looked at Silver as she admitted, "Well, he _was_ the one I was thinking of before the shift. I've done it before, that's why he's got a Saga-Tracker 2.0 slapped to his wrist."

"But why this time? Why… in an existence that holds both him _and_ I at the same time? A time where I could have died, should it not have been for your intervention."

"Saga..." Silver softly spoke up, "I think we should go now. It… it's been a long day, for all of us."

But Saga remained where she was, still on edge but almost hypnotized by the jackal's gaze at this point. She wanted to know what he knew about her in the future. He knew more than enough than she cared to know- it was written all over his smirking face. He wanted her to know too, or else they wouldn't be in this situation…. Right?

"We share a fate, Saga." the jackal even said, as if reading her thoughts. "Don't deny it. You will be back my puss, one way or another."

This was the final straw for her as Saga backed away from him, and left the jail cell.

"Sorry I broke your cup." she mumbled to Silver before he shut the cell door.

. . .

Saga was asleep in minutes after Silver found her a place to lie down. You would have thought that after her sixth cup of coffee from being here, such a feat would have been impossible. But no, Saga's eyes were closed the same moment her head hit the pillow. Not a moment after, the gentle breathing from the cat indicated that she had reached a blissful slumber. Silver gave her a soft smile before letting it fade away, his mind drifting to more pressing matters. He worked his way back to Infinite's holding cell- he didn't enter the cell itself, instead he went to the observation room connected to Infinite's cell. It was with a delayed surprise that he noticed Sonic was there as well.

"Sup?" the blue hedgehog greeted, cheerful as ever. "Came to tease the dog behind plexiglass too?"

"It's a one sided mirror..." Silver mumbled. Sonic just gave a small shrug of indifference before turning his attention back at Infinite. The jackal just laid there in the cell, not giving any sign of life at all.

"It's too easy to beat each other anymore." Sonic idly noted, tilting his head back and forth in thought. "I mean, he caught me and now we have him. It's really… _convenient_. Don't cha think?"

"It would be convenient for Saga to return home before tomorrow." mumbled Silver under his breath. "Infinite's going to manipulate her to get free, I can feel it."

"He wasn't lying to her." Shadow's voice informed them, as the black hedgehog himself walked up to Silver to look him directly in the eye.

"Ah, there you are!" Sonic cheerfully greeted. "I was starting to think you went into hibernation again!"

But Shadow did not reply or seem to acknowledge the blue hedgehog, instead keeping his emotionless gaze at Silver.

"If you honestly think that he's lying to her now," Shadow then continued to tell Silver, "Then you're the one that needs to reevaluate who's lying to who."

"But he doesn't care about her!" Silver argued.

Shadow's only answer was a blink before bringing his attention to Sonic.

"If you and the red echidna aren't going to give that moron a proper trial, then at least have the cat try to prove Infinite's innocence."

"And just how do you propose we do that Shadow?" Sonic questioned with an amused raise of his eyebrow.

"Have the cat interrogate Infinite." Shadow replied, simply enough. "Have her ask questions that test his morality; Questions that test his innocence. If he truly loves something, other than the Phantom Ruby or himself, then there is a chance that he could be redeemed. Later."

"As if you could speak from experience?" Sonic smirked.

The dark look Shadow gave the blue hedgehog was as good an answer as any.


	3. Day 1: Questions

The next morning, Saga walked through Resistance base as if it were her second home. After her third cup of coffee for the morning, she decided to head over to the observation room near Infinite's jail cell. There waiting for her was Sonic, Knuckles, Silver and Shadow- the grand jury of the day. Probably the only jury at this point, she figured.

"This is a list of questions we want you to ask Infinite." Shadow informed her, not wasting a moment. Saga took notice that he was looking at her like he was trying to figure something about her out, but she quickly dismissed it to receive the list and look over it.

"These questions all suck." the cat denoted with a scrunched face as she read over the list.

"That's what I said!" Sonic heartily agreed; behind him Knuckles was uncomfortably trying to clear his throat to distract the two. It didn't stop Sonic. "I mean, do we _really_ need to know this guys shoe size and what he likes to eat? What are we going to do to him? Scratch his belly and pamper him until he switches sides or whatever? I _don't_ think that's how Pavlov works, knucklehead."

"Skinner developed operant conditioning, not Pavlov." Shadow darkly noted to no one in particular.

" _Any_ way!" Knuckles called out, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "All of these questions will help us decide which method of correction we'll use on him later. Ask as much as you can- whatever you don't cover today, it can be done tomorrow as well."

"Got it." Saga agreed with a nod, tucking the list of questions away in her messenger bag.

"And if you need to get out quickly, let us know." Silver added. "Don't let him bully you around."

"Sure." the cat agreed with a snort. "As if I could let a detained criminal bully me around when he's so weak right now that I could roundhouse kick him into next week."

That made Sonic snicker a bit in the background, but Shadow only frowned.

"Follow me Saga," the black hedgehog then spoke up, "I will let you in Infinite's jail cell."

"Right." the cat numbly agreed as the two left the observation room. Before Shadow let her in to the cell, he paused for a moment and looked over at her.

"Are you..." he started to ask, but faltered. When he started again, he instead said, "Never mind. We can talk about it later."

Saga gave the hedgehog a wary look before heading into the jail cell. Something about him was off, and she was going to find out soon eno-

"You're back Saga. Brilliant." Infinite greeted in a dry tone. "Come sit. I'm sure you've come for more than spoilers."

"You could say that." she agreed with an exhausted sigh. "I've got a list of questions to ask you, lucky you."

"Really?" came the amused answer. "How about then… for every question you give me, I ask you one too?"

"I don't think that's gonna fly. These guys are pretty desperate to see if you can be corrected or not."

"Oh?" Infinite entertained with a click of his tongue. "Then let's do it this way, you give me three questions and I ask you one in return. How about that?"

"As if there's any good questions to last that long..." Saga grumbled before looking over the list.

"Make due with what you have, my puss." Infinite teased with a nasty grin. Shrugging it off, Saga started with the first question on the list.

"What happened to the Phantom Ruby fragment that was attached to you?"

"I assume they mean the power of the Phantom Ruby fragment?" the jackal asked, shifting a little to get a better view at the one sided mirror. He knew he was being watched from the other side, and he refused to let them know that he wasn't going to let his vulnerability show in the presence of his past (or will it be future, in her case?) second in command. He wasn't even looking at her when he announced, "It's powerless now, of course, because of that buffoon spending it's energy on whatever his Hail Mary was. He cast me out because he found me useless, but while the Phantom Ruby is powerless, rest assured that I am _not_."

"Sure hun." Saga easily dismissed before going on to the next question. "How did you survive before I found you?"

"I didn't." the jackal snorted. "I was dead, my puss, until you came along. Had you not noticed me, I would be nothing more than dust and bone in that wasteland."

"You can't talk to someone if you're dead." the cat skeptically reminded the jackal. "And I distinctly remember you saying something when I found you."

"How does that one song go?" Infinite mused, ignoring her to some degree, "You walk like an angel, talk like an angel..."

The only response Saga graced him with was a rather blank stare. It seemed to have amused Infinite enough that he let out an almost genuine laugh. She was still his Saga, even if she wasn't herself yet.

"Next question Infinity Mijinion," she announced after -earning a rather ugly look from him-, "What happened to your mask?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"Just answer the question, I didn't write them."

"It fell off. It's lost. The mask doesn't hold any power from the Phantom Ruby, it was just a mask. It's worthless. Just like my defected face and bruised ego."

"You poor baby." Saga's quick snark retaliated without a hint of sympathy. "You have a little scar and two-toned eyes. You're the worst defective creature I've seen in my entire life. Not like the little babies who move from timeline to timeline and come back with an arm missing. No, they're _fine_ compared to your problems."

"Rude." Infinite huffed. Saga didn't care and gave a mild snarl to show for it.

"Now it's my turn." Infinite told her. "Let's see… there's so many things I want to ask you, my puss. So many important- Oh, I have one. How did that silver nuisance know about the world's defeat? Was that not the true future?"

For a moment, Saga faltered as she thought it over. "I… don't think I know how to explain that."

"Enlighten me."

The cat still hesitated for a moment, but did give in after enough thought.

"In mine and Silver's timeline, there's been some kind of rare genetic reaction where folks can time travel. Sometimes in their sleep, sometimes when they're awake- most of it without any conscious thought. A lot of these people die or get lost in some form or another. Silver and I, we're part of that group. We happy few can also tell when our timeline has been altered. Silver can feel these changes, and I can too. But there are times when I can't, and those are the times Silver starts to worry. And, apparently, it happened again."

"Fascinating." Infinite mused with a low chuckle. "Very fascinating. Now, on to the rest of your questions, yes?"

And for the next hour, Saga continued to read the questions and after three were answered, Infinite asked her a question. His questions seemed rather general about who she was than anything else. He had no doubt that this Saga would become his, but a few inquiries never hurt a man either. In an offhanded way, it helped her understand how much he knew about her future self. Later on, Infinite started to let out a low chuckle after Saga read a question that must have been written by Silver;

"How was my older self associated with you? And what did I do to help start the Phantom Ruby war?"

"We worked well together, my puss." the jackal answered without a moment's hesitation. "You might not have had _good_ control over your shifts, but they worked well for our cause. We earned enough together that I even bought you a gift in celebration. Well… _found_ a gift, the Jackal Squad was never quite keen on actually buying things..."

"What was it?" Saga questioned as she raised an eyebrow. But to this, Infinite just gave a dim chuckle and wagged a finger at her.

"Spoilers, my puss." he teased, "Spoilers."

"What about my involvement with the war?" Saga asked again. For this, Infinite seemed to recoil a bit. He knew he was about to tell one member of the silent jury exactly what he wanted to hear; and while the truth didn't hurt _him_ , per se, it was definitely something that could have been handled better than what it was. But at the time, had it even mattered? He quickly forgot about her soon after...

"You left before I ever had first contact with the Phantom Ruby," he finally said. "Claimed that it was a time in history you could not interfere with, all while griping about something that I only ever used you for your shifts. We… did not depart on the best of terms."

"Sounds like it." Saga mumbled under her breath. To this, Infinite looked at her and saw his Saga there. Oh yes, this Saga held the promise of being his Saga, this was the right timeline and he had to make sure that things transpired the way they were meant to.

"Saga," Infinite spoke to her, using a different tone of voice now, "You are more powerful than you realize. Even now when you think you have little control over your abilities. You're so… dangerous, and yet you keep it contained in you as easily as breathing air. You're so… fascinating as well. The Phantom Ruby had the power to distort reality, but _you_ can shape it. It's almost like a part of the Ruby is embedded in your blood, ready to be unleashed unto the world..."

The cat remained still, unsure of how to react to this. She hated her powers with a blinding passion -that much nearly everyone close to her knew- but no one had ever implied that she had a strong enough power to control it. Infinite studied her as conflict etched across her face.

"One last question, my puss, and we'll call it a day. Yes?"

Saga didn't answer, letting infinite to take it as a cue to go on.

"If your powers need a conduit (say from someone close to you) to work at your will, why do you think they led you here? To a time when that future fly and I exist at the same time?"

To this, Saga did not have an answer.


	4. Day 2: Harassment

Lady Venice.

The name had come back to Shadow's memory with a flash. It had taken him nearly two days to remember it though, which either said something about his memory or whatever effect she had made on him. It was in seeing Saga walk over to him -spine straight and face giving feigned confidence as she got closer- that the name came back. But why now? And what did this blue Mobian cat need him for?

He soon found out when she asked him in a rather haughty voice, "Can I bring Infinite some food that isn't inedible gruel?"

"Why are you asking me?" Shadow immediately questioned.

"Because I can't trust Knuckles to make a proper decision, Silver wouldn't let me do anything if I asked at the moment, and Sonic's never around?" Saga replied with a raise of her eyebrow. Shadow looked back at her, making the cat recoil a little before quietly admitting, "You terrify me the most..."

Hearing this, the black hedgehog stood a bit straighter- his face illustrating an emotion that Saga almost had to double check. Was it fear? Shame? Whatever it was, the expression was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"If there were leftovers from breakfast this morning," Shadow then informed her, "You can take them to Infinite. But nothing else. Understand?"

Saga gave a firm nod before quickly getting out of his presence. She could still feel him glare a hole in the back of her head- it almost made her wonder if he knew her from another shift as well. But that was a question for another time, by now Infinite was sure to be wondering where she was. For now, Saga was able to gather enough pancake scraps for a decent enough meal and two cups of coffee. Shadow magically appeared when she needed to enter the cell and let her in without a word. Despite the pancakes being long cold, the sweet aroma of the baked good filled the cell within moments. Infinite moved his head a little to get a better whiff.

"Are they making you tease me now?" he questioned, sounding awfully bitter in doing so.

"No, I brought you breakfast." Saga replied with a scoff. "If you don't want it, I can send it back."

"As if I'd beg you to feed me."

After breakfast, yesterday's routine started up again: Saga would give Infinite a small array of questions and he would ask her one. A simple negotiation for what everyone wanted- but today, Infinite wanted something a little more… exciting.

"What did you see when you first encountered the Phantom Ruby?" Saga read from the sheet.

"When I first encountered the Phantom Ruby?" Infinite repeated with a small chuckle. "What a moment of revelation… I could see and feel the destruction of a once glorious city- not a survivor in sight or a single sound to be heard. It was calm, and the perfect conclusion to utter terror and organized chaos."

Unintentionally, Saga let out a small sound of disgust.

"What's the problem, puss?" the jackal then questioned, almost looking genuinely interested in her reaction. "Am I too much of a masochist for you at the moment?"

Saga refused to look him in the eye when she said, "Something like that."

"Then what if I told you that what I saw was not my personal vision, but one I shared with Eggman?"

This sparked a moment of doubt in the cat, and she looked at him; a sign for him to continue. Infinite gave a rather smug smirk before he went on;

"When I first came in contact with the Ruby, that idiot held it out as if it could protect him. It didn't hurt the Ruby, as I'm sure you're aware, but it gave us this… shared desire, if you will."

"To see the world burn?"

Every emotion of Infinite's face disappeared. His answer, "To be in control." was low and toneless. Saga recoiled slightly and only gave a small nod of understanding.

"I imagine," Infinite them mused, completely changing the tone, "That if I were to experience a vision truly of my own from the Ruby, then you would be involved somewhere. Along with my squad, of course..."

Still a bit shocked from his lack of emotion earlier, Saga did not answer and instead looked everywhere but at him for a moment. Infinite seemed to study her for awhile.

"Saga, come closer." he carefully told her. "I want to tell you something important."

Complying without a single thought otherwise, Saga moved a bit closer to the jackal for him to whisper in her ear, "Create a shift for me."

Instantly, Saga jumped to her feet. "Are you insane?!" she demanded in an appalled voice, her face turning red in either embarrassment or anger. For a moment, while observing them, Silver thought that Infinite had suggested something less moral before Saga then shouted, "Do you really think I can control my shifts? Let alone magically show you one now?!"

Infinite calmly craned his neck to look up at her. "Yes." he admitted. "I think you could. You just need… a little motivation."

"And where the hell do you think I'll get ' _motivation_ '?" the cat continued to yell.

"Loosen the restraints, just slightly, and I can show you, my puss."

"That's not up to me."

Giving a rather annoyed scoff, Infinite turned to the one sided mirror. He gave a rather venomous glare at the spot Silver stood on the other end, netting a small shiver up the hedgehog's back.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to see what Saga could do." Sonic decided, casually throwing his hands behind his head. "All this talk about this power she's got and no one's seen it once since she's got here! It'll be a nice change of pace, whatever happens."

"We can't do that!" Silver shouted, going a few octaves too high.

"Why not?" Sonic mused, cocking his head to the side in slight amusement.

"She can't control herself, that's why! She can't channel her powers to work the way she wants! She'll be too dangerous if we just let her create a shift now!"

"So you have no faith in your friend's abilities?" Shadow questioned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the telekinetic hedgehog.

"I…!" Silver started to argue before faltering. "That's not what I meant!"

"But it's what you're saying." Shadow tonelessly pointed out.

"It's just..." Silver exasperated. "Saga's powers are unstable. Even if Infinite was - _somehow_ \- able to help her channel them for, like, five seconds, who's to say that something else doesn't go wrong? Like Infinite escaping or Saga losing control of the tear so both of them are lost who-knows-where? We'd lose both of them and we won't know where they went unless they somehow make it back."

"Then I guess it's a risk we'd have to take, isn't it?" came the dry reply.

"Sonic?" Silver weakly questioned. "Do we have to?"

"No, not really." the blue hedgehog dismissed. "But it's so boring around here, and good ol' Knucks is doing other stuff today, so I'm not opposed to some magical tear or whatever that could destroy the world as we know it. Doesn't stuff like that happen, like, every other month anyway? How could this be any worse?"

"Then I suppose it's settled." Shadow agreed, looking Silver dead in the eye before leaving the observation room.

A few moments later, a knock was heard on the cell's door and Saga immediately went to open it. Shadow stepped in soon after and continued on a single path to Infinite.

"How loose do you want these chains?" the black and red hedgehog tonelessly asked.

"Enough to touch _her_ ," Infinite replied, motioning to Saga. "Enough that we can look each other in the eye at our proper heights."

Shadow turned to Saga, motioning for her to come closer so he could do as Infinite requested. Timidly, the cat did so and waited while the hedgehog adjusted the jackal's chains. Once finished, Shadow gave them a curt nod in good bye and left to return to the observation room.

"So nice to know that I'm trusted around here." Infinite soon snickered as he attempted to get comfortable in his new position. "Seems I'll be sleeping standing up tonight. Regardless..."

"Come here Saga, I won't bite." the jackal offered to her. The cat warily did as she was told- when she was close enough to hear his shallow breathing, he motioned for her to turn around so her back was toward him.

"Relax Saga," Infinite crooned in her ear, slipping his hands into hers. "You're too tense. Just… relax..."

Of course, this new position did not go unnoticed by the peanut gallery.

"What _the hell_ am I looking at?" Sonic snorted.

"Harassment." Silver muttered under his breath. Only Shadow was able to hear it, but the older hedgehog seemed to ignore it for the time being.

Back in the cell, Infinite tried to hide his excitement at Saga's willingness.

"There's a tear here Saga, can you feel it?"

The cat didn't answer directly, instead raising her left hand as if she were reaching for a wall in front of her. Her eyes were closed as she realized she could feel something in the still air- like a hole, or a small rip.

"Open it." Infinite softly whispered in her ear. "Show us what is hidden behind the fabric of space."

Working her hands now, as if trying to find enough holes to gain some leverage, Saga thought of nothing as she worked the tear open. Silver, Sonic, and Shadow watched on with various degrees of interest as a silvery light came from Saga's fingertips; the light increased, and in a short burst the tear opened up to reveal a crystal clear pool of water, very close to Saga and Infinite's feet. A waterfall cascaded into the pool, its spray just barely hitting the cat and jackal beyond the other side of the tear.

"She opened a pocket in time." Shadow noted, despite not talking to anyone is particular. "She could travel through if she wanted. Maybe even bring us in with her too."

Silver and Sonic were silent, still absorbing the beautiful scene and its stark contrast to the rest of the jail cell. After enough time had passed, it was Sonic who said;

"I've seen better."


	5. Day 3: Reliance

Silver had woken Saga up rather early the next day and quietly led her to the main room in Resistance headquarters. There waiting was, as always, Knuckles, Sonic, and Shadow, standing around the only table of the room before noticing Silver and Saga come in.

"Everyone looks so happy." Saga noted to her friend in a hushed whisper. "Did someone run out of coffee this morning?"

"Considering that Infinite's fate was sealed the moment we found him, I'd say yes." Silver hushed back.

"You two are finally here," Knuckles then said to them, "Now we can start. And we have a long day ahead."

Without being told twice, the duo found a spot around the table to occupy. Saga took place closer to Shadow on her left, with Silver at her right. This then meant that Silver was next to Knuckles, Knuckles was next to Sonic, and Sonic was next to Shadow. Once everyone was better readjusted, Knuckles cleared his throat to continue;

"Saga, as you're aware, we had let you ask Infinite a few questions."

"Yeah, they still sucked." the cat retorted. "We literally got nowhere with them."

"Agreed." Silver nodded, not that it surprised his fellows any. Saga didn't seem to notice.

Clearing his throat, Knuckles went on anyway, "Later today, Infinite will be relocated to the Death Egg for a century long behavioral readjustment. We gave you those questions to make sure if our methods could work, and to make adjustments before he even arrived."

"I still can't believe you asked him what music he liked." Sonic smirked. "Never would have pinned him as an alternative rock junkie."

Knuckles glared at the blue blur for interrupting him before continuing, "Saga, for helping us, we now know what methods would be better to take in the short term. And yes, we have not truly learned anything for the long term. But, I feel obligated to ask since you're the one that questioned him, do you think Infinite could be redeemed for his crimes?"

"Which were again?"

"Terrorism, supposed murderer and instigator toward the kidnapping of Sonic the Hedgehog, and disrupting everyone's perception of the world with an extremely dangerous artifact."

"Ah." the cat nodded as she thought it over. But then she went silent for a rather long time.

It was taking too long for Knuckles, who turned to Sonic.

"Sonic, what do you think about this?"

The blue hedgehog was silent for awhile as he thought it over. Then a characteristic smirk stretched across his face as he snorted, "Well, he sure does seem to like a certain puss, if nothing else. Weren't we looking for something that he loved other than himself?"

"Fair point." Knuckles agreed with a nod.

"He also mentioned the Jackal Squad." Saga pointed out, breaking her silence and perhaps even her train of thought. "His team, I guess? Maybe you could bring them to-"

"They won't be coming back." Shadow darkly informed her. "I made sure of it a long time ago."

"Oh." Saga dully remarked. "How pleasant."

"But what else is going to keep him in the prison?" Knuckles inquired.

"He might need an incentive." the female cat noted, despite pointing out the rather obvious. To countermeasure this, Shadow looked over at her.

" _You_ are his only incentive, Saga." he reminded the cat. "If he needs you to stay docile..."

"There's no way Saga's staying here until Infinite's sentence is up!" Silver objected. "Completely disregarding what it would do to the time stream because we throw it to the wind enough already, Saga just won't _live_ long enough to see his sentence through. Why should _she_ be cast away for life because that jackal did something she wasn't even a part of?!"

"Then I'll watch him, since aging doesn't effect me." Shadow offered. "Would that make you feel better?"

Silver opened his mouth to immediately answer with a yes, but caught himself by noticing the faces of those around him. If it wasn't right for Saga to get stuck babysitting Infinite for a century, it shouldn't have been fair for Shadow either… right? Even Saga, who usually ignored Silver's weirdness, seemed to have noticed it and was giving him a funny look. The moment didn't last very long when she mused,

"That extremely dangerous artifact... It was called the Phantom Ruby, right?"

"Yes." Knuckles nodded.

"And it distorted the reality toward those in its control... right?"

"Yeah...?" Sonic agreed, folding his arms in thought as he noticed she was getting somewhere with this.

"Do you still have some power from it that could last a century, or enough to serve out Infinite's sentence?"

"No." Shadow disagreed with a shake of his head.

"All of the Phantom Ruby fragments were destroyed in the war." explained Knuckles. "Even then, we took care of the Ruby's main power source, none of the supposed remaining fragments would work."

"Can't you make some syntho-Ruby. Something that works like the original but will only work for so long and only to Infinite?"

"Tails could probably whip something up." Sonic agreed. "Wouldn't be the first time he replicated some dangerous mineral of destruction."

"Saga, what are you getting at?"

"She wants to use something akin to the Phantom Ruby to project a version of herself to Infinite." Shadow told him before turning back to Saga. "Don't you?"

Saga gave a small nod of affirmation before adding, "It would also serve justice to those who had been under the effects of the Ruby earlier. He instigated most of those cases, and he could do experience what it was like for a long time. It would keep him distracted enough to not break out so often, and he'd have me. Or… some version of me that he conjures, I guess. You know?"

"I like it." agreed Sonic with a nod.

"As do I." Knuckles chimed in.

"It might work." Shadow even confirmed.

Silver didn't give an opinion, as he had already been outvoted by everyone else.

"Then it's settled." Knuckles proudly told them all, "We'll commission Tails to create a Phantom Ruby clone that will be powered for exactly 100 years and change only Infinite's perception- this will keep him contained while also giving us a better long time solution. The majority of us have seen this as a viable solution: Saga, would you like to tell Infinite the news?"

"S-sure..." the cat agreed, taken aback by the echidna's sudden zeal. Shadow followed behind her, due to having the jail key, and the others dispersed to where ever else they were needed.

The walk to the cell was rather quiet- or it was, until Shadow asked,

"Saga, are you familiar with the moniker 'Lady Venice?'"

"Huh?" the cat mumbled, caught off guard by the hedgehog's sudden want to talk. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Can't say." Shadow informed her with an indifferent shrug. "You just reminded me of her, really. She's a lot like you, but less afraid."

"A lot like..." Saga repeated with some amusement before realizing something. She stopped both of them in their tracks to look at him. Shadow looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"You do not need Infinite to control your powers." he said. "It will be hard, but you can do it."

"In every world that I do, there's another that I don't." Saga challenged. "Are you going to be…?"

"With the way this world's turning, apparently." the black hedgehog huffed, making them move on their way again. "Hiding on the Death Egg for a century doesn't sound fun, but maybe I can move us to the Ark once everyone passes away."

Saga gave Shadow a rather concerned glance. He was taking the idea far too pleasantly. Shadow might have been avoiding this to some degree as he went on,

"You'll find me when you get back. Apparently I'll be a 'royal pain' from 'lack of social contact,' but I will be there."

"Thanks?" the now very confused cat thanked as the two approached the jail. Giving her a departing nod, Shadow let her in and shut the door behind her.

Letting out a small sigh, Saga made her way to Infinite, who looked to be asleep in his uncomfortable stance. Carefully, Saga ran a hand over his forehead; it was mostly an attempt to see if he was awake or not, but it looked more like a mother addressing a sick child. The jackal shifted and soon looked up at her with eyes that detailed a weariness she hadn't seen before.

"How much longer will you come to taunt me, Saga? Haven't you heroes exhausted all your fun?"

"You're being released today." came the rather soft answer.

"To be indoctrinated with rainbows, unicorns and Chao gardens." he shot back.

"No," the cat disagreed, "It'll be a lot more disorienting than that."

Infinite gave her a confused glare before realizing what she was insinuating.

"Who's idea was it?" he carefully demanded.

"Mine."

"Figures. You knew me before you ever knew me, didn't you? You're a crafty little one, puss, and as much as I hate it, that's what I like most in you."

"It would be easier if you just… gave in to the visions, whatever they are."

The jackal raised an eyebrow. His favorite pussy cat sure was avoiding the subject today. "Easier?" he snickered in return. "Why would I give in to the easy route when the hard path is always more amusing?"

Saga looked away. Why was she feeling so… _weird_ about this? She still didn't know him as well as he claimed. Was it because she knew he was going to see her -the her he wanted to see- for the next hundred years without a choice?

Infinite could see this and raised an eyebrow.

"What's on your mind, Saga?" he finally asked, using a softer tone of voice he'd never use for anyone else, "It's just us today, isn't it? Until they take me way at least."

To his dismay, the cat just shrugged.

"I once heard that reliance was a weakness…" she eventually said, looking up at him, "Do you agree with that?"

The jackal gave a rather amused huff before relating, "I believe that reliance welcomes weakness- practically the definition, really. But I do not find the two synonymous either. Reliance can beget trust and faith- inherently unbroken things that our world tries so hard to destroy. Sometimes it even succeeds, sometimes it makes them even stronger."

"Wise words from a criminal." she mused, a small smile edging onto her lips.

"Criminals are nothing without their silver tongues and amusing wit." he replied with a smirk of his own. "My puss, amuse me; how old will you and the fly zapper be in 2117?"

"Silver would be 19, I think, and I'd be 18. But Silver's birthday is in December, so technically he'd be 20 by the end of the year?"

"Wonderful." Infinite grinned. "You'd be legal."

"My math may be off, you know." the cat interjected with a raise of her eyebrow. Her smile, however, was still unwavering.

Their moment was interrupted with the door to the jail cell opening. The two looked to see Silver there.

"It's time." he informed them in an unintentionally dark tone. Saga stepped out of the way for Silver to undo Infinite's chains and using his powers to insure that a pair of handcuffs was put on the jackal. Once it was certain that Infinite wasn't going to easily escape, Silver started to direct him toward the exit.

"Would you not give a doomed prisoner one last request?" Infinite questioned before they left. Silver went silent as he thought it over.

"Fine." the hedgehog agreed. "But make it quick."

That was when Infinite turned to Saga and motioned for her to come over. As the cat came closer, the jackal kept motioning for her to get closer- by the time she was just inches away (and before Silver could catch wind of what Infinite was doing), the jackal had pulled the cat in for one long, possessive kiss. When Silver finally pulled the two away, the damage had already been done.

"We'll find each other again my puss." Infinite then promised Saga as Silver forced the jackal away. "It's all but destiny now..."

Silver gave Saga a worried look as he hurried Infinite along out of the holding cells. The next time Saga blinked, she was back at home in her proper time, still waiting for Silver to come back home. Unsure of what else to do, Saga slumped to the ground weary, tired, and just in general, emotionally confused.

It took her some time, but eventually Saga had remembered something.

' _...maybe I can move us to the Ark... You'll find me when you get back…. I will be there._ '

"I'll have to remember to remind him of this..." the cat mumbled to herself before heading to the Professor's house. She had an immortal hedgehog (and his jackal ward) to track down before Silver came home.


End file.
